Kuwait Airways Faces Further Legal Action Over Its Discriminatory Policy of Refusing to Fly Israeli Passengers

Kuwait Airways is once again facing a legal challenge over its discriminatory policy of refusing to fly Israeli passengers.

The Lawfare Project — a US-based pro-Israel nonprofit legal group — has filed a complaint with a German court in a bid to shut down the carrier’s layover flights that link Europe with non-Arab League countries, such as India and Thailand.

Past Lawfare Project efforts have already led to Kuwait Airways halting service on US-Europe and inter-European routes.

The plaintiff in the latest case booked a ticket on Kuwait Airways to fly from Frankfurt to Bangkok, with a layover at Kuwait International Airport. Just before the first flight, according to the Lawfare Project, the airline — Kuwait’s flag carrier — cancelled the ticket after learning the plaintiff held Israeli citizenship.

“This plaintiff is asking for a ruling by the court that will allow every German traveler to fly on every airline operating in German airports, regardless of his/her national origin, religion, or ethnicity,” the Lawfare Project’s German counsel Nathan Gelbart said in a statement. “If Kuwait Airways wishes to operate flights from Frankfurt to Bangkok and to officially market these flights in Germany, they must either transport all passengers, including Israelis, or simply cease these flights.”

Brooke Goldstein — director of the Lawfare Project — stated, “National origin discrimination has no place in global commerce. The LP is sending a message to all participants in the Arab League boycott of Israel as well as the BDS movement that these practices will be prosecuted and penalized whenever and wherever they are attempted in the Western world.”

Kuwait and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and the tiny Gulf nation abides by the Arab League boycott of the Jewish state. However, according to the Lawfare Project, seven Arab League member states allow Israeli citizens to transit through their airports to connect to flights to other countries.

As reported in The Algemeiner last week, Kuwait Airways is among five Middle Eastern carriers that intentionally leave Israel off their route maps.